Search for Self

My main personal issue is that I was bullied heavily as a school kid and was too shy and timid to learn to fight back; instead, I learned to hide and be "invisible." Those ingrained (more like "beat into me") childhood habits do not simply disappear when you become an "adult," even when you start wanting to be noticed! It is not as easy as you may think to "just get over it."

My life-long search for self has taken a few forms, but it has come down to the central fact that I needed to find and recover my "inner child." I found him hiding under his Grade School desk (understandably so!), but recovery is an on-going process, even at the age of 62!

"Mama's, don't let your babies grow up to be bullies!" 

And yes, that's your job! "Boys [and sometimes girls] will be boys" is a parental cop-out. Nobody is in a stronger position to influence their children's behavior than the family. If you are modeling bullying behavior to them, perhaps you should consider growing up?